Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Here and there and a little bit of everywhere

Lots of things happen to me during the day that make me say to myself, "I totally need to blog about that tonight." Sometimes I remember all the details, sometimes I don't.Before I get to the photos:Last night, after Isabelle and Lorelei brushed their teeth, Isabelle made me "check the tooth". She has had a wiggly tooth for what seems like a year. I checked, and I can just begin to see a gap between the tooth and the gums. I said that I needed to make her a "Tooth Fairy" bag to put her tooth in, and asked her what she wanted the TF to leave under her pillow. She said, "A flute!" Geoff and I glanced at each other, both of us envisioning the ear-splitting sound of a flute in the hands of a five-year old. I told her that a flute might stick out from under her pillow, and the TF rules clearly state that the gift has to fit under her pillow.Without missing a beat, my girl said, "A fifty-dollar bill!"

Hell, I remember getting a quarter.(Just for the record, girlfriend is not getting a fifty.)

Lake Isabelle this morning:With all the avian hormones running amok now, there's a lot of butt-biting going on. But hey, human males are the same way.But instead of butt-biting, there's a lot of posturing and"He better stop lookin' at you" stuff. I did have two guys fight over me once. It was pretty cool. But embarrassing.I was dating *the demon*, and one of his friends (let's call him John) offered to help me with my Senior Thesis since he had done his thesis on the same subject (Censorship in Modern Music). We met at the library, and while it was innocent on my end, he had a thing for me. Well, to make a long story short, *the demon* came bursting into the library just as I was checking out books at the desk, and he punched John in the face so hard he knocked him down. The librarian reached for the phone to call the cops (whose precinct was right down the block) and I jumped in my car and got the heck out of there.I digress, but still...it was pretty cool.

A Canada goose flying over head.Look! A bug!The magnolia is this close to bursting forth...doesn't this look like a brand-new tube of lipstick?

And some rat pictures. On the left is Shirley (the shyest one) and Penny on the right (the Momma rat)I love their little paws...like tiny infant hands. With tiny claws.This is Laverne. She and Shirley are identical, but I can tell them apart by behavior. Shirley doesn't come out to say Hi until Laverne goes first. Laverne is friendly and always ready to run up my sleeve and groom my ears. (Being groomed by a pet rat is a high honor...it means they think of you as a large, benevolent rat)

(This is a sucky scan...click to enlarge it)I found an old sticker book from my younger days, and there was this strip of National Wildlife Federation stamps. From left to right: Golden-crowned sparrow, American Badger, Owl-clover, and Palm warbler.I wonder if they are worth anything? They are from the early eighties. Probably not.But you can sell anything on eBay, right?I once saw for sale on eBay, a "haunted kitty litter pan".

When Johnny was little he lost a toth but didn't tell me about it. After a week of waiting for $ from the tooth fairy, he told me with much disdain that "That dumb tooth fairy needs to be fired for doing a bad job".

Click on this link when you are having a bad day and need a giggle

A Glossary for newcomers to the blog:

"Embrace your Inner Sheep": You'll just have to read back a ways for the explanation of that one.

FTS (Also known as F*** the Swainsons): When you just cannot, under any circumstances, get out and look at another bird today. That's it. I don't care what it is. F*** the Swainsons!

The Flock: A group of women (and a few men thrown in for good measure) who met here in Cyberspace and now travel together to birding festivals. We are unique in this because birders don't usually travel in "packs".

Learning Lemur: (See Science Chimp)

RAPTOR: A Cincinnati-based rehab center for birds of prey (also where I work)

Science Chimp: A term coined by Julie Zickefoose. Meaning anyone who sees something nature-oriented (whether it be scat or bones or the scene of a predator strike) and MUST figure out the circumstances. There is much grunting and "eep-eep-eeping" involved in a full-on Science Chimp display. Someone who is learning the art of Chimping can be called a "Learning Lemur".

"Squeee!": This is a noise you make when something is so cute or perfect, no other word will do.

"What? Lynne has herpes?": What your blogger heard and said during a quiet moment at an owl prowl when someone said that Lynne (Hasty Brook) has groupies.